Bryan, I enjoy your content and hope the road you take will include more of it. Your insights and sense of humor keep me coming back to your essays. You may feel at a crossroads, but it’s more of a big giant Y. As you travel down one fork, the other fades. I first noticed you on Ward Carroll’s YouTube channel and learned to value your opinions and insights. You’re a gifted writer, and I hope that continues to be part of your journey.
Thank you for sharing. I'm grateful for the service you've done - the Navy and then later trying to help guide the country.
Personally I think it's super rewarding to get involved in activities to build / help our local community. I love listening to the weekly podcast/radio show about local news - it's all real important issues but they seem much more addressable. I like corresponding with my state senator!
I hope you find your local focus rewarding too. I'd love to read anything you feel like writing about that!
Hegseth and his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, divorced in 2009. He married his second wife, Samantha Deering, in 2010; they have three children.[18]
In August 2017, while still married to Deering, Hegseth had a daughter with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he was having an extramarital relationship.[18] He and Deering divorced in August 2017. Hegseth and Rauchet, who has three young children from her first marriage, married in August 2019.[44]
“Help,” he said, “is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly.”
“So it is,” he said, using an old homiletic transition, “that we can seldom help anybody. Either we don’t know what part to give or maybe we don’t like to give any part of ourselves. Then, more often than not, the part that is needed is not wanted. And even more often, we do not have the part that is needed.”
Before he was killed at Fallon, Carrol LeFon said he wanted to move to Montana and buy land, have his own airstrip with a Piper Cub and fish. If you're going to chill for a few years, I can't think of a better way or place.
I remember a co-worker who said the movie was just about fishing. I had read the book when it came out. I knew that fishing was just a way to carry the story of the loss of a loved one who the Norman could not understand. I had a brother like that. His book A River Runs Through It and Other Stories has two other chapters and they are just as good and very funny.
Great column. But understand I am relieved after the results of Tuesday night.
I understand why you feel the way about the president elect, but after years of law fare and cancel culture, I felt if the VP won she would send her minions down to the lowest level at people like me.
I am confident that won’t happen now and I hope the winners develop a culture in the DOJ, etc., that it never happens again.
I am squeamish about mass deportations, but on the other hand the mass illegal immigration that took place over 4 years was designed to intentionally hurt the nation and change the demographics to permanently place republicans in the minority.
Then it’s spending unchecked for decades.
I know the P elect isn’t a true conservative but I’ll take it to protect folks from the cancel culture that surely would have come from a Harris administration with the radical Obama running the show for his 4th term, running on the Reverend Wright/Alinsky radical agenda.
But stay in the game. Your thinking challenges me.
I think I first came across you on Twitter because of Cdr. Salamander's naval tweets and that led to following your Substack, but your non-political substack musings have been enlightening and I hope you keep posting them.
Now to keep our fingers crossed that UVA's basketball team plays well after the coaching change....
For those of us who mostly follow you on Substack for your insights into the Navy, you could post more links in this Substack to articles you’ve written elsewhere for work and that might save you the trouble of writing something for here each week (if you’re looking to cut back). Admittedly, I appreciate the UVA content and inhabit the same basic part of the political spectrum (Jonah Goldberg, National Review Editors) as you, but I learn a lot from your essays on force structure and how to grow/build the fleet.
I wish you great success in this coming year. I know this last one has had some really hard knocks for you. However, You have a great game plan, and as you know, beginning is half the battle. You’ve got this Sir!
You've built the life you want, and I’m genuinely happy for you. That said, I really hope we still get to read your thoughts on whatever catches your interest—even if it’s UVA or something totally unrelated to US politics and foreign affairs. I’ve enjoyed everything you’ve shared with the world ever since I first heard you on Net Assessment. Your straightforward, no-nonsense perspective has always resonated with me, even when the topic was something I had little knowledge and/or interest in and I hope we can continue to enjoy it for years to come.
Well, regardless of which path you take, at least consider taking the occasion to learn how to bird hunt. I highly recommend the distraction and heated arguments about if one really should hunt quail only with a side by side or over under (with only the best wood furniture, natch), or succumb to modernity and carry one of those mechanical semi-autos. Are you really confident enough to carry a 28-gauge, or should a gentlemen accept his limitations and carry nothing less than a 20 gauge? Also, dove season...is it best to have a strong opening day, or to wait until later in the season when the birds are smarter? Should you really stick with the "Improved cylinder early season/modified choke late season" or stick with the IC and only take shots of the close flying birds?
If it makes a difference Captain, I’ve grown to appreciate your vignettes apart from national security and politics, so I’d be happy to continue reading about life in the neighborhood, books, music or whatever floats your DDG!
I came to your Substack via Ward Carroll for the naval strategy and stayed for the politics, largely because I didn't agree but couldn't articulate why and this challenged me.
If you really believe it's right for you to focus more locally, then by all means. Thank you for your service (I mean that sincerely). But if you think nobody's listening or you're too old, those are not good reasons to withdraw.
Grieve the loss of the country you once believed in, don't accept that the two choices on offer are the only two possible futures, genuinely try to understand people with different viewpoints than your own, and please keep sharing your insights.
Captain McGrath, thank you for those honest and heartfelt expressions of a return to first loves. I, too, find myself in need of withdrawing in large part from the national and international news cycle. I think the men's group I have been a part of has made this reality more apparent as I was asked to teach on the book, "Practicing the Way" by James Mark Comer. A book I would recommend for those of faith seeking to grow in that faith to be more than the things of this world invite us to be.
I enjoy your informative musings, and will miss them when they are gone. But I am excited for your change in direction, that it may be more fruitful and exciting than anything we ever experienced in our naval careers.
I needed to hear this as much as you felt the need to write it. Spending a career in the Military, a large and highly impactful time of our lives is not easy to let go of. Especially at the higher ranks. When the decisions you make and actions you take impact dozens, hundreds, thousands, and even hundreds of thousands at the Gen and Flag Officer level.
Then we retire and some (me) feel lost. Many go into the consultant and program world for a company like Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed, BAE. Some go into the Contractor, Private Security, or PMC world. Or in the case of many Enlisted the Civil Military. Maintenance, training, tech Pub fields. Where we are able to hang on to the military. Still around, still having an impact. Believe we are playing a role in the safety and security of the nation. We are still serving, aren't we?
I retired over 12 yrs ago. And at the old age (for Military) of 39 went into Wild Land Firefighting. Which I believe pulled me out of a depression I had sunken into after retiring. I had no idea how much I would miss leading Marines. I found camaraderie, a sense of duty, and honor again for 5 more years. I left the fire life in 2017 for a great job in the pipeline industry. At 50 yrs old now I still like the job. But immediately something was missing. I dove deep into podcasts such as Jocko, Combat Story, Mike Ritland, Shawn Ryan, and of course Ward Carroll. Read books and articles that are important to Natl Security like Unrestricted Warfare. Right now I have Gen Flynn's set of books on 5th Gen Warfare, and Gen Rob Spalding's Stealth War. I attended the Logistics Officers Association the last 2 yrs in a row with my Daughter (Air Force MSgt). I've posted, shared, bitched, and complained about Mil Readiness or lack of it. Written to local Police, and Sheriff's Dpt. About school safety, public safety, terrorism threats, and preparedness. With little to no response or feedback.
It seems all I do is watch, read, and study anti- terrorism, Homeland Security, Global Strategic and Mil stuff. Israel, Ukraine, the border, cartels, Al-Qaeda, AQAI,Taliban, ISIS, ISIS-K, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko-Haram, Al-Shabab, etc. Ive spent the days since the election studying the Rwandan Genocide, 1st and 2nd Congo Wars, Mobutu, Ugandan War, and the hunt for Joseph Kony. And also analyzing political developments.
Imagine trying to have conversations with "regular people" at work, or with your family about those topics. I find it exciting and fascinating. I attempt to share and educate others on the threats we are currently facing but it usually results in a bewildered look, or just lack of interest. I can't believe people are more excited about the new season of Yellowstone than they are concerned about Hamsa Bin Laden and the Haqqani Network.
I've thought for a while I should just stop trying. After all what impact does an old Retired Jarhead have to offer the country in way of National Security and Defense anyway?
Lately, since around May 2024 I have come to the conclusion that I personally am NOT going influence, Natl Security, Israel, or Ukraine. I'm NOT going to bring peace to the middle east.LOL!
What I CAN do is take care of my family, my home, my friends. Get involved in my community and make a difference in my small part of the world.
Maybe I won't thwart a large scale coordinated homeland terror attack, prevent the CCP from conducting Cyber operations against us, or stop Russia from their disinformation and social engineering campaign, or reason with pro Palestinian, anti Semetic college kids, or lead Marines in a foreign country again. But we can all make a difference to our loved ones and to our community. A real difference, with tangible and intangible results.
I think I can find meaning, purpose, honor, duty, courage, commitment, and camaraderie in that.
Bryan, I enjoy your content and hope the road you take will include more of it. Your insights and sense of humor keep me coming back to your essays. You may feel at a crossroads, but it’s more of a big giant Y. As you travel down one fork, the other fades. I first noticed you on Ward Carroll’s YouTube channel and learned to value your opinions and insights. You’re a gifted writer, and I hope that continues to be part of your journey.
Much obliged!
Thank you for sharing. I'm grateful for the service you've done - the Navy and then later trying to help guide the country.
Personally I think it's super rewarding to get involved in activities to build / help our local community. I love listening to the weekly podcast/radio show about local news - it's all real important issues but they seem much more addressable. I like corresponding with my state senator!
I hope you find your local focus rewarding too. I'd love to read anything you feel like writing about that!
Now, What? Pete Hegseth!!
Hegseth and his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, divorced in 2009. He married his second wife, Samantha Deering, in 2010; they have three children.[18]
In August 2017, while still married to Deering, Hegseth had a daughter with Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet, with whom he was having an extramarital relationship.[18] He and Deering divorced in August 2017. Hegseth and Rauchet, who has three young children from her first marriage, married in August 2019.[44]
CAPT - for you, from A River Runs Through It.
“Help,” he said, “is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly.”
“So it is,” he said, using an old homiletic transition, “that we can seldom help anybody. Either we don’t know what part to give or maybe we don’t like to give any part of ourselves. Then, more often than not, the part that is needed is not wanted. And even more often, we do not have the part that is needed.”
Before he was killed at Fallon, Carrol LeFon said he wanted to move to Montana and buy land, have his own airstrip with a Piper Cub and fish. If you're going to chill for a few years, I can't think of a better way or place.
I remember a co-worker who said the movie was just about fishing. I had read the book when it came out. I knew that fishing was just a way to carry the story of the loss of a loved one who the Norman could not understand. I had a brother like that. His book A River Runs Through It and Other Stories has two other chapters and they are just as good and very funny.
Great column. But understand I am relieved after the results of Tuesday night.
I understand why you feel the way about the president elect, but after years of law fare and cancel culture, I felt if the VP won she would send her minions down to the lowest level at people like me.
I am confident that won’t happen now and I hope the winners develop a culture in the DOJ, etc., that it never happens again.
I am squeamish about mass deportations, but on the other hand the mass illegal immigration that took place over 4 years was designed to intentionally hurt the nation and change the demographics to permanently place republicans in the minority.
Then it’s spending unchecked for decades.
I know the P elect isn’t a true conservative but I’ll take it to protect folks from the cancel culture that surely would have come from a Harris administration with the radical Obama running the show for his 4th term, running on the Reverend Wright/Alinsky radical agenda.
But stay in the game. Your thinking challenges me.
I think I first came across you on Twitter because of Cdr. Salamander's naval tweets and that led to following your Substack, but your non-political substack musings have been enlightening and I hope you keep posting them.
Now to keep our fingers crossed that UVA's basketball team plays well after the coaching change....
Indeed
For those of us who mostly follow you on Substack for your insights into the Navy, you could post more links in this Substack to articles you’ve written elsewhere for work and that might save you the trouble of writing something for here each week (if you’re looking to cut back). Admittedly, I appreciate the UVA content and inhabit the same basic part of the political spectrum (Jonah Goldberg, National Review Editors) as you, but I learn a lot from your essays on force structure and how to grow/build the fleet.
I wish you great success in this coming year. I know this last one has had some really hard knocks for you. However, You have a great game plan, and as you know, beginning is half the battle. You’ve got this Sir!
Thank you
You’re welcome!
You've built the life you want, and I’m genuinely happy for you. That said, I really hope we still get to read your thoughts on whatever catches your interest—even if it’s UVA or something totally unrelated to US politics and foreign affairs. I’ve enjoyed everything you’ve shared with the world ever since I first heard you on Net Assessment. Your straightforward, no-nonsense perspective has always resonated with me, even when the topic was something I had little knowledge and/or interest in and I hope we can continue to enjoy it for years to come.
Thank you
Well, regardless of which path you take, at least consider taking the occasion to learn how to bird hunt. I highly recommend the distraction and heated arguments about if one really should hunt quail only with a side by side or over under (with only the best wood furniture, natch), or succumb to modernity and carry one of those mechanical semi-autos. Are you really confident enough to carry a 28-gauge, or should a gentlemen accept his limitations and carry nothing less than a 20 gauge? Also, dove season...is it best to have a strong opening day, or to wait until later in the season when the birds are smarter? Should you really stick with the "Improved cylinder early season/modified choke late season" or stick with the IC and only take shots of the close flying birds?
You can't go wrong with an Ithaca 37 or Remington 1100 in 20 gauge for quail.
You get me.
If it makes a difference Captain, I’ve grown to appreciate your vignettes apart from national security and politics, so I’d be happy to continue reading about life in the neighborhood, books, music or whatever floats your DDG!
Bryan,
I came to your Substack via Ward Carroll for the naval strategy and stayed for the politics, largely because I didn't agree but couldn't articulate why and this challenged me.
If you really believe it's right for you to focus more locally, then by all means. Thank you for your service (I mean that sincerely). But if you think nobody's listening or you're too old, those are not good reasons to withdraw.
Grieve the loss of the country you once believed in, don't accept that the two choices on offer are the only two possible futures, genuinely try to understand people with different viewpoints than your own, and please keep sharing your insights.
Respectfully,
Axel
Thank you, Axel. It comes down to a limited supply of give-a-damn, and I have to be more strategic about how I apply it.
The supply of that shrinks rapidly as you age.
Captain McGrath, thank you for those honest and heartfelt expressions of a return to first loves. I, too, find myself in need of withdrawing in large part from the national and international news cycle. I think the men's group I have been a part of has made this reality more apparent as I was asked to teach on the book, "Practicing the Way" by James Mark Comer. A book I would recommend for those of faith seeking to grow in that faith to be more than the things of this world invite us to be.
I enjoy your informative musings, and will miss them when they are gone. But I am excited for your change in direction, that it may be more fruitful and exciting than anything we ever experienced in our naval careers.
Thanks for these heartfelt personal musings, Mr. McGrath. I'm looking at ways to shift focus as I get older too. Good luck!
🫡🇺🇸. I’ll miss your musings when it ends.
Captain,
I needed to hear this as much as you felt the need to write it. Spending a career in the Military, a large and highly impactful time of our lives is not easy to let go of. Especially at the higher ranks. When the decisions you make and actions you take impact dozens, hundreds, thousands, and even hundreds of thousands at the Gen and Flag Officer level.
Then we retire and some (me) feel lost. Many go into the consultant and program world for a company like Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed, BAE. Some go into the Contractor, Private Security, or PMC world. Or in the case of many Enlisted the Civil Military. Maintenance, training, tech Pub fields. Where we are able to hang on to the military. Still around, still having an impact. Believe we are playing a role in the safety and security of the nation. We are still serving, aren't we?
I retired over 12 yrs ago. And at the old age (for Military) of 39 went into Wild Land Firefighting. Which I believe pulled me out of a depression I had sunken into after retiring. I had no idea how much I would miss leading Marines. I found camaraderie, a sense of duty, and honor again for 5 more years. I left the fire life in 2017 for a great job in the pipeline industry. At 50 yrs old now I still like the job. But immediately something was missing. I dove deep into podcasts such as Jocko, Combat Story, Mike Ritland, Shawn Ryan, and of course Ward Carroll. Read books and articles that are important to Natl Security like Unrestricted Warfare. Right now I have Gen Flynn's set of books on 5th Gen Warfare, and Gen Rob Spalding's Stealth War. I attended the Logistics Officers Association the last 2 yrs in a row with my Daughter (Air Force MSgt). I've posted, shared, bitched, and complained about Mil Readiness or lack of it. Written to local Police, and Sheriff's Dpt. About school safety, public safety, terrorism threats, and preparedness. With little to no response or feedback.
It seems all I do is watch, read, and study anti- terrorism, Homeland Security, Global Strategic and Mil stuff. Israel, Ukraine, the border, cartels, Al-Qaeda, AQAI,Taliban, ISIS, ISIS-K, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko-Haram, Al-Shabab, etc. Ive spent the days since the election studying the Rwandan Genocide, 1st and 2nd Congo Wars, Mobutu, Ugandan War, and the hunt for Joseph Kony. And also analyzing political developments.
Imagine trying to have conversations with "regular people" at work, or with your family about those topics. I find it exciting and fascinating. I attempt to share and educate others on the threats we are currently facing but it usually results in a bewildered look, or just lack of interest. I can't believe people are more excited about the new season of Yellowstone than they are concerned about Hamsa Bin Laden and the Haqqani Network.
I've thought for a while I should just stop trying. After all what impact does an old Retired Jarhead have to offer the country in way of National Security and Defense anyway?
Lately, since around May 2024 I have come to the conclusion that I personally am NOT going influence, Natl Security, Israel, or Ukraine. I'm NOT going to bring peace to the middle east.LOL!
What I CAN do is take care of my family, my home, my friends. Get involved in my community and make a difference in my small part of the world.
Maybe I won't thwart a large scale coordinated homeland terror attack, prevent the CCP from conducting Cyber operations against us, or stop Russia from their disinformation and social engineering campaign, or reason with pro Palestinian, anti Semetic college kids, or lead Marines in a foreign country again. But we can all make a difference to our loved ones and to our community. A real difference, with tangible and intangible results.
I think I can find meaning, purpose, honor, duty, courage, commitment, and camaraderie in that.
Happy Veterans Day,
Gunny
I gave up trying to have conversations with most normies years ago.
Perfect, Gunny. Perfect.